Israel Speeding up West Bank Land Grab ahead of Elections

Ahead of Israel's October 27 election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government is accelerating efforts to expand control over Palestinian land in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. This push, occurring with less international scrutiny, includes Defense Minister Israel Katz's plans for three military-community outposts in northern Gaza and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's allocation of 1.3 billion shekels for new West Bank settlements. These actions aim to "create facts on the ground" before the polls, according to Hagit Ofran of Peace Now. Israel already controls 65% of the Gaza Strip, with a goal of 70%, and is constructing a 23km earth barrier. In the West Bank, the government has armed thousands of settlers, leading to what human rights group B'Tselem describes as forced displacement on a scale unseen since 1967. These policies, coupled with the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, are raising profound legal and moral questions under the 1948 Genocide Convention.